Rebirth of a Serpent
by Gaereth
Summary: Naruto, found at a young age by Kabuto, is taken to Sound Village. There, Orochimaru plans to set the Kyuubi vessel to nefarious usage. Will Naruto be corrupted by the serpent, or will he remain strong? NarutoXTayuya.


Rebirth of a Serpent

Chapter One: The Hunt Begins

The boy stumbled on, making his way haphazardly along the road. The full moon shone down around him, illuminating his drawn and pale face, and the silvery light reflecting off of the small puddles of blood he left in his wake. His right hand was clutched over a wound in his belly, from which blood flowed in a sluggish stream, dripping on the paved road. But, despite the pain from his wound and the open wound, he struggled on, determined to make it home. Forcing himself to take each step, he strode on with shaking legs and his eyes half-closed as his body began to succumb to the effects of losing so much blood.

As his focus dwindled, he put a foot wrong and slipped, falling forward onto one knee. The impact jarred his wound even more, and blood suddenly coated his hand in a crimson spurt, bringing a grimace of pain to his bewhiskered face. Thrusting the pain aside with inhuman effort, he pushed himself off the ground and steeped forward, weaving unsteadily on his feet. His mind was hazy now, and only one thought remained clear to him: he was close to home. If he could just make it through this alley ahead, he'd be right next to his house. If he could just… He stopped thinking, throwing all of his effort into walking, into setting one foot in front of another. He _forced _his body to move, willed his muscles to work, stayed balanced by sheer willpower.

But, for every man, there is a breaking point; a limit to his strength and power. As he turned and staggered into the alley, his legs crumpled beneath him, and he hit the cobblestones face-first. He groaned in pain and spat out a tooth, barely noticing the coppery taste of blood coating his tongue. Even then, prostrate on the ground, he tried to press onward, tried to crawl towards the relative comfort and safety of home. Throwing his arm out, he clawed at the ground before him, trying to find purchase, trying to pull himself closer to his goal. But, even as his fingers scrabbled at the rock, he felt consciousness leaving him, and his mind fell into the darkness.

He lay there in the alley, a pathetic figure of a boy. His blonde hair was dirty and streaked with blood, his clothes tattered and ripped. He bore nicks and scratches all over his arms and legs, and there was a long but shallow slash across his back. He looked as if he had been beaten within an inch of his life, and then cut the rest of the way. There seemed to be no hope for this boy, and death was imminent. Until, fate smiled upon him, changing his life and his future.

Yakushi Kabuto was on his way home, going over the events of the past day. It had not been good, which was strange, since he had finally been assigned to a Genin team. Unfortunately, his teammates were complete fools, more prone to bragging and needless fighting than silence and honing their skills. It had taken every ounce of Kabuto's considerable self-control to stop himself from breaking his character and killing them, but Orochimaru-sama needed him to maintain his position. He was the vital mole within Konoha, and he would not betray Orochimaru's confidence in him over something like a petty squabble.

Clutching his cloak closer about him, he hurried along the road. He had stayed out late tonight, having spent too much time practicing. He had to be quick, or else he wouldn't be ready when Orochimaru-sama contacted him. But, even as he increased his speed to a near jog, something caught his attention. Slowing to a stop, he cautiously gripped a kunai and went for a closer examination of what had distracted him. But, as he realized what it was, his eyes went wide in surprise, and he rushed over to the boy's side, his medical training overriding his usual cautiousness.

Kneeling down beside the blood-spattered boy, he quickly looked him over, his trained eyes spotting and recording every visible injury. Ignoring the blood that coated the boy, he reached down and grabbed him gently, turning him over so that his face was to the sky. Immediately, two things struck Kabuto as important: the boy was Uzumaki Naruto, the infamous container for the Kyuubi, and he had just stopped breathing. For a brief moment, he wrestled with himself, not sure whether to heal the boy or let him die, and so rid the world of a possible enemy. But, the medic within him overpowered the shinobi, and he quickly summoned the green healing chakra to his hands.

Clapping them together, he slammed both his palms into the boy's diaphragm, trying to coax his lungs into breathing. He did it again, and a third time. There was no response, and he quickly changed tactics, knowing his time was running short. Quickly, he ran through a short series of hand seals, and his palm was covered with electricity, which he shoved directly into the boy's heart. The boy's body spasmed for a moment from the force of it, but his heart was not responding. Again, Kabuto tried to jumpstart the boy's heart, and again he failed. Over and over again he tried, pounding voltage into the small boy's frame. Finally, there was a shuddering, gasping intake of air, and Kabuto felt a shiver of relief flood through him. He had managed to bring the boy back from the brink, but his job wasn't done quite yet.

He dismissed the electric chakra that coated his hands and pulled out a small bottle from his pouch. Opening it with a deft twist of his hands, he pulled out two tiny red pills and forced them into the boy's throat, massaging his throat to make him swallow them. Once the blood-restoring pills were safely down the lad's throat, Kabuto looked over the boy's wounds again. As he saw the wound in the boy's stomach, he gasped in concern and inspected it closely, noting that it was particularly large and nasty. Summoning a chakra scalpel to his hand, he quickly cut away the remnants of the boy's t-shirt, revealing an emaciated torso that looked like it would've suited a skeleton better.

Now that the fabric was not impeding his work, he dismissed his jutsu and began flashing through hand seals, finally ending with rat. As the diagnostic jutsu took effect, a dark green chakra coated his hands, and he quickly placed his palm on the boy's wound. The chakra began seeping into the boy's wound, probing its depth and the extent of the injury. Kabuto frowned as he realized the amount of damage that had been done to this boy. From the looks of it, it was like someone had been trying to cut out a piece of his stomach, and had done a very nasty and incomplete job of it. But, that was not the worst of the news.

He sighed and pulled his hand away, realizing the severity of the wound. Whatever blade had done the damage had cut into the intestinal tract, which was bad in itself. However, the body waste that was within the intestines had seeped out, infecting and poisoning the flesh around it. That wound was fatal, and there was nothing he could do about it. He knew then that saving the boy's life had been a waste of his time, as it would have been better for him to die from blood loss than from the slow poisoning of his body. Sighing, he summoned a chakra scalpel to his hand, prepared to cut the arteries in the boy's neck and let him die more peacefully.

As he raised his hand to the boy's neck, he was stopped in his tracks. Out of nowhere, he felt a pulse of strong chakra wash over him, shocking him into complete inaction. As he quickly regained his faculties, he turned away from the boy and began to look around, trying to find out where that strange chakra had come from. Then, his eyes widened in realization, and he turned back towards Naruto, not sure what he would see.

From the terrible stomach injury, Kabuto saw a red chakra begin to seep out, coating the boy's entire body. Then, before his eyes, the boy's wounds began to close, the minor scratches and abrasions fading away within seconds. Then, as Kabuto watched with fascination, the wound in Naruto's stomach began to heal over, the flesh regenerating at an astonishing rate. The flesh seemed to swirl and move about, then stopped to reveal the wound completely healed. Then Kabuto saw a strange seal appear where the wound had been, a black spiral surrounded by two semicircles, each of which had four lines of symbols trailing away from the spiral. The whole seal reminded Kabuto eerily of a strange eye, and he shuddered slightly.

But, as his analytical mind played over the entire healing process, he began to smile. This boy had just recovered from a fatal wound; not only that, but the rest of his body was healed, as well. However, that wasn't what had Kabuto amazed; rather, it was the fact that the flesh had _regenerated_, rather than simply healed over. Kabuto had only seen that kind of ability once before, and that was from his own technique. He stared at the boy with a strange mix of triumph and envy, knowing that he had just made a most remarkable discovery.

Suddenly, he felt a headache overtake him, and he realized that the time had come for his master to contact him. Suddenly conscious of his blood-soaked hands, he stood up and cast a quick genjutsu on the area, making sure that nobody would see the upcoming conversation. Then, hands stiff at his side, he stood and waited patiently for his master to call on him.

He did not have long to wait. In front of him, he saw the air shimmer, quickly forming into a recognizable shape. There, standing before him, was his master, Orochimaru-sama; or, rather, it was his astral projection, wavering and shimmering in the air before him. He bowed before Orochimaru, feeling the weight of the snake sannin's presence overwhelm him. The snake Sannin was wearing the robe of his organization, the black sky and red clouds contrasting vividly with his pale skin.

"I am your humble servant, Orochimaru sama." The flickering figure before him chuckled softly, its arms folded. It spoke softly, its voice coming out deep and somewhat distorted.

"Of course you are, Kabuto-kun. That's why I chose you for this important task. Now, stand up and let me see your face." Kabuto stood and faced his master, meeting the yellow eyes of his master with his own. Again, the sheer strangeness of that jutsu overwhelmed him. Even though it was just an astral projection of Orochimaru, his eyes contained all the force and character that they did in the flesh. The shimmering figure nodded slowly, satisfied with what it saw. "Good, good. You look stronger. Now, report."

Kabuto nodded, assuming a more relaxed stance. "There is not much to say currently, Orochimaru-sama. I have successfully infiltrated the ranks of the Konoha shinobi, and now possess the rank of Genin." This provoked a chuckle from the snake Sannin.

"Genin? If only those fools knew your true strength… You are easily Chuunin level, Kabuto-kun." Kabuto smiled and bowed his head, grateful for his master's praise.

"Just as you say, Orochimaru-sama. However, as it stands, they do not suspect my strength. They believe me to be of average strength, with a specialty for medical ninjutsu. The fact that my adopted guardian was a healer helps me tremendously, since it explains my knowledge of medical science." Orochimaru nodded, already knowing all of this.

"Yes. Is that all you have to report?" Kabuto shook his head slowly, a strange smile gracing his lips.

"Actually, no. There is another tidbit of information that I think you will find most… interesting." Orochimaru's eyebrows raised interestedly. He knew that Kabuto was a good judge of what deserved his master's attention, and he was suggesting it, it was obviously worth his time.

"Is that so? What do you have for me?" Kabuto stepped to the side, revealing the still-unconscious Naruto. Orochimaru stepped forward and knelt beside the boy, examining him with his slitted eyes. "What is the meaning of this? This boy can be no more than five at the most. I hope you are not trying to waste my time, Kabuto." The grey-haired ninja shook his head.

"No, Orochimaru-sama. The reason that he is interesting is because he is the boy who contains the Kyuubi no Yoko." Orochimaru looked slightly more interested, but was still unimpressed.

"Is that so…? However, it is little more than trivia to me. What is your point, Kabuto?"

"My point, Orochimaru-sama, is that this boy, not five minutes ago, revived himself from a fatal wound." _That _caught the snake Sannin's attention.

"Did he, now…? How is that possible? A medical jutsu?" Kabuto shook his head slowly.

"No, Orochimaru-sama. As a matter of fact, he was unconscious at the time. No, he was healed by use of an ability that I have rarely seen, and even then was not as extensive as this."

"And that ability is?"

"Regeneration. The complete regrowth of damaged tissue. This boy was covered with wounds, and had a huge belly wound that had breeched his intestinal wall. Within a minute's time, he was as good as new." As he spoke, he watched his master's expression grow more and more intent. When he finished, Orochimaru turned back towards Naruto, appraising the boy in a new light. He spoke slowly and covetously, his voice dripping with desire.

"Amazing… Truly amazing… If I could obtain that power, true immortality could be within my reach… Kabuto! How was this accomplished? The Kyuubi's influence?" Kabuto shrugged, not quite sure of that himself.

"I would assume so, Orochimaru-sama. However, the chakra that did it was of a strange nature, and was red in color." The snake Sannin found that most interesting indeed. His calculating mind was processing this interesting bit of information. If what his subordinate said was true, then not only did this boy have the ability to regenerate, but he possessed an entirely new and powerful kind of chakra, no doubt derived from the youki of the fox demon. If he had that power under his control… No, he _would _have it under his control!

"Kabuto, bring the boy around. I desire to speak with him…"

AN: Yet another story from me. As you can probably already tell, this story is going to be Naruto in Sound Village. And, yes, that means a Naruto and Tayuya pairing. I may throw others into the mix, but that's where it'll start. And just because he will be serving Orochimaru does not mean that he will be an evil bastard, nor does it mean that he will be uber. Naruto is still Naruto, no matter where he is.

Oh, and note the use of the Akatsuki jutsu and Orochimaru's Akatsuki robe. At this time during the anime, Orochimaru would still have been with the group, and would have worn the robe and known that jutsu. After all, he didn't leave the group until Itachi kicked his ass, and Itachi hasn't even left the village yet. Also, Kabuto has been a plant for him since he was a child, which means that he's already unnaturally strong.

Make sure to review, and don't hesitate to ask questions of make suggestions. I'll also listen to any requests you might have concerning the plot or Naruto's abilities, and I'd like to know whether or not you think he should have the Curse seal. I don't really care either way. I'll be updating this story whenever I have a chance.


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